In today’s episode of the BabblED Podcast, we welcome Learning Innovation Coaches, Cheryl Terry, and Ben Sheridan, to share their insight into creating a coaching culture in international schools. Ben and Cheryl join us from NIST International School in Bangkok, Thailand, and our conversation hinges around definitions of leadership, norms of collaboration, and the importance of demonstrating vulnerability. Tuning in, you’ll learn how asking the right questions not only fosters growth but leads to a great conversation, why modeling leadership built on trust and vulnerability is the best way to implement it, and how, sometimes, doing less enables you to do so much more toward building and sustaining a culture of innovation. This is an exciting conversation filled with wisdom and practical knowledge, so make sure not to miss it!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Cheryl shares why she believes a culture of coaching is important in schools.
• Ben weighs in, pointing out the value of continuous learning and improvement.
• How coaching can help you improve your overall practice as an educator.
• The importance of fostering a spirit of collaboration that Ben believes is centered on trust and agreed upon structures and roles.
• Cheryl highlights the roles that intentionality and vulnerability play in building trust.
• Jonathan shares an example of how asking the right questions demonstrates growth.
• Ben emphasizes that it takes vulnerability to build trust, not the other way around.
• The role of school administration in modeling leadership that is built on vulnerability.
• Why an alignment of words and actions is key: what we value, we spend our time on.
• A reminder from Ben that putting the seven norms of collaboration into practice takes time.
• How to sustain a culture of innovation and battle fatigue using focus and clarity.
• Cheryl explains why being a good listener is imperative to being a good leader.
• What makes a great conversation: passing, paraphrasing, asking mediative questions.
• Jonathan, Scott, Cheryl, and Ben reflect on the best conversations they have had recently.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Cheryl Terry on LinkedIn

Cheryl Terry on Twitter

Ben Sheridan on LinkedIn

Ben Sheridan on Twitter

NIST International School

The Culture Code

Jonathan Mueller on Twitter

Scott Lindner on Twitter

Connected Learner Partnerships